The Crimson Crockery: An Overview & Review (Patreon)

While the campaign write up is still continuing, now that I've had enough time to play with the Crimson Crocodile showdown and gear I feel confident enough to review the various elements of this monster's showdown and gear. We're going to start with the gear, because I have a preference to understand what the rewards are before looking at the monster. Understanding “What's the carrot?” helps contextualise if the “stick” that is the monster is appropriately balanced.

In other words, is the juice worth the squeeze is a core principle that I hold for reviewing monsters in this game. It's fine for something to be too hard or too easy if the gains are at the same relative strength.

I rate gear cards with the following system:

• Broken – Gear that distorts the game in an unhealthy fashion. i.e. the 1.31 Counterweighted Axe
• Staple – Something that one has to find reasons to not it use because it is that strong. i.e. Rawhide or Leather Armor, Scavenger Kit
• Good – A Piece of Gear that always contributes to a survivor/hunt party .i.e. King's Spear or Arc Bow
• Situational – Gear that can be strong in the right builds/circumstances i.e. Red Charm
• Bad – Gear that is best left in the box and needs adjustment by Team Death i.e. Musk Bomb

Spoiler Warning for all Crimson Crocodile Gear here.

Additional Spoiler Warning: I will be diving into the Indomitable Resource & Pattern gear cards near the bottom of this post. You can skip past them to the summary heading if you want to be surprised about that aspect of this monster's rewards.

Crimson Crocodile Armor

Crafting Cost: 3x Pale Flesh, 1x Crimson Bone, 1x Crimson Fin, 2x hide, 2x organ, 1x bone

Departing Armor Points: 2/3/2/2/2

Themes: Strength through bleeding, Brain Damage protection, Monster Movement Attack

The first thing I always check with an armor set is to see where it sits in the resource cost (number of cards) to armor point ratio. We know from Rawhide Armor and Leather Armor that each resource put into an armor set should roughly generate 2 armor points (Rawhide is 5 resources for 10 armor points, leather is 9 resource + part of an endeavor for 20 armor points). On the surface Crimson Crocodile Armor (hereafter called Crimson Armor) appears to fail this basic test, however the set bonus for this armor offers a lot more armor points if you are able to activate it at the right time. This is a fascinating and well balanced piece of design, at its most basic level the armor set puts 2 bleeding onto the survivor and they can translate that at the start of the showdown into another +10 armor points. However, that is just the floor for this armor, the ceiling is considerably higher.

In addition to the armor points, the Crimson Armor sidesteps the problems that the White Lion and Gorment Armor sets fall into by offering a whole bunch of affinities without requiring any itself. This design was a trap that most of the previous generation's monster armor sets fell into; because when the armor set demands certain specific affinities, it ends up being something that dominates and restricts builds a huge amount, Gorment Armor for example is often paired with a Leather Shield and Gorn/Armor Spikes – turning it from a 4 slot armor set into a 6 slot armor set, completely undoing the slot compression it was offering. The design we see here instead provides flexibility and an increase in options; meaning there is more space for players to be inventive.

The abilities on the gear cards continue the theming of the armor set, with two pieces providing bleed tokens and one piece increasing the bleed out threshold to compensate for starting with 2 bleeding upon departing. The big splashy elements of this armor set are the Mindlock mechanic, which allows a survivor to negate the next brain damage they receive (thereby providing protection during Crimson Crocodile showdowns) and the Immortal Spin, which is a bleed based variation of Pounce. Because you have to move exactly 3 spaces before getting the attack, this ability has the same functions, strengths and weaknesses of Pounce – but because the Crimson Armor doesn't care about weapon type, it has more synergy with melee Reach weapons, allowing it to function more fully and support a playstyle of “dancing around the monster”.

Before we move on from the armor set, I'd like to highlight that Bandages really help with this armor set (and other bleeding based gear cards in this selection), the First Aid Kit on the other hand has a bit of anti-synergy because it removes a bleed token on arrival – so you'll have to juggle that one and bare it in mind if you are using it alongside Crimson Armor. However, as we'll see below, there is an item that can help develop bleed tokens in a controllable fashion.

Rating: Staple

Bloodglass Dagger

1x veined glass

On the surface this looks like a very cheap weapon to craft, and in pure resource numbers it is, however veined glass is a valuable commodity that has a lot of demand so the value of veined glass is very high. This dagger's power will greatly vary depending on where you are going to utilise it; this is because it has Honed 3, and we'll discuss Honed here in general terms so one can refer back to this when we get to the other Honed X weapons in this crafting location.

Honed X is in many ways a fixed and more interesting version of Frail, but instead of the weapon archiving after an attack wounds a super-dense location we instead get weapons that lose their strength once they wound super-dense or parry hit locations. This Risk vs. Reward scale varies immensely depending on the monster in question, Honed has trouble against the higher level Crimson Crocodiles while it also has zero downside at all when fighting a White Lion, so the context of how potent each of these honed weapons will be very situational indeed. It's a great mechanic, though it is surprising that there's not a gear card which allows for a once per showdown activation that restores the edge of your weapon. Good stuff regardless.

The dagger here benefits a lot from Honed because it allows the weapon to sidestep the usual issue surrounding dagger design, lots of speed, decent accuracy but bad strength bonuses. This forces dagger wielding survivors to be big, buff old boys and girls rather than your typical survivor, instead here we have a weapon that will allow for a solid start on Dagger Proficiency even if it might request a back up weapon on the survivor for after they ruin the edge. The only limiting factor here is the veined glass situation, something that is a huge pressure for this crafting location.

Rating: Good

Finger Darts

1x pale fingers & 1x scrap

Thrown weapons continue to languish in a low tier for weapon types due to their rarity and lack of weapon proficiency progression. However, Finger Darts do offer utility outside of their relatively weak attack profile. They can be used to gain insanity during a showdown via an activation, something that is very welcome during Crimson Crocodile showdowns if you get isolated away from the blood pool. In addition the two affinities on this weapon are very good and as such this one slots into a similar play space as the Sunstalker's Sunspot darts, utility for specific situations. This plus the low crafting cost makes the Finger Darts a viable if situational solution for certain survivors and that remains consistent across the campaign due to the way the insanity gain scales with monster level.

Rating: Situational

Crocbone Hammer

1x crimson bone & 1x bone

This club is an interesting one because of its Clobber 4 interactions with the Crimson Crocodile's L2 trait card. The L2 Cronk gains a lot of additional super dense hit locations and that lets this club automatically scale to keep up with the increased toughness. It's still not an amazing weapon because that accuracy holds it back a smidge, but it doesn't require veined glass which means something for settlements seeking to craft the Giggling Scythe in short order.

Against other monsters its viability will vary depending on their super-dense location card density, and that keeps this weapon having interesting texture. It's situational, but when that situation arises it can impress and add into that this is a weapon that doesn't require veined glass and you've got a useful option despite surface appearances.

Rating: Situational

Bloodglass Cleaver

1x flat vein, 1x veined glass, 1x organ

Funnily enough, this weapon packs exactly the same basic stat line as the Bloodglass Dagger, with the difference being an extra red affinity, axe typing, a negative ability called Guardless (where you cannot dodge or ignore hits) and a frankly huge Honed 5. This weapon is just the perfect blend of power and drawbacks balanced in a way that would make even Thanos pleased. This weapon is an ideal pick for a damage orientated survivor in the early game and impresses both in its power and with the tricky situations Guardless can cause. A Terrified survivor with Guardless vs the Crimson Croc's Basic Attack is one heck of a moment to experience.

Rating: Staple

Bloodglass Longsword

1x immortal tongue, 1x veined glass, 1x bone

This one is a bit of a head scratcher, it is a two-handed Reach 2 sword which means it can interact well with the Immortal Spin ability on the Crimson Armor, but you need both puzzle affinities connected and significantly three bleeding tokens in order to protect the edge of this weapon. What this weapon really needs in support is the Blood Compass Lantern (which we'll discuss further on), with that it can avoid the first ruined edge and then sit at 3 bleeding tokens, with that there's a lot of power potential behind this weapon if you are willing to jump through the hoops this weapon requires.

Rating: Situational

Bloodglass Katar

1x pale fingers, 1x veined glass

In stark contrast to the Longsword, the Bloodglass Katar's Honed 4 and +2 evasion/Guardless ability has sensical applications in longer showdowns, this weapon offers a good level of strength and is a reasonable option for survivors who seek to run Katars. Its affinity is a smidge inconsequential, but that is never an issue, because an affinity you can't activate is nothing more than an positive opportunity ignored rather than a negative issue to count against it.

I think Honed 4 is what really sells this weapon as being a great piece of kit to be using during showdown fights, the +2 evasion & Guardless kicking in is really well balanced as in particular if you are out of survival, being Guardless is not a serious issue in the early game.

Rating: Good

Blood Compass Lantern

1x groomed nails, 1x skull, 1x scrap

This lantern is designed as the primary method of scaling up the number of bleeding tokens without needing options like Story of the Young Hero and it also allows honed weapons to skirt around having their edge ruined. It's not an easy craft due to requiring two specific resources, but its utility in addition to some very useful affinities makes it an excellent investment. There are multiple entries in this article that benefit from this lantern. So in combination with its good affinities and Lantern keyword I think if you are looking to explore the weapons and armor fully you'll want one of these crafted, maybe more.

This is also a really interesting form of Hit Location Control and I am here for it.

Rating: Staple

Bloodglass Saw

1x crimson bone, 2x veined glass

This weapon was one of my earliest crafts and it did not disappoint with that mixture of Honed 3, Savage and most importantly of all the Saw ability. It is absolutely the Lion Beast Katar of the Crimson Crocodile and I think it's a toss up between this one and the Bloodglass Cleaver for the best early game weapon options in the Crockery. It's also not absurdly broken thanks to that sweetly designed requirement for either being adjacent to the monster at the start of your act or being able to Dash in order to generate that extra luck. I got one of these early and it paid out big time.

Rating: Staple

Crocodileyes

1x eye of immortal, 1x organ

Hey Monster Tooth Necklace, welcome back! This is a simple strength buff for survivors who are not using hit location scouting/manipulation and I like it an awful lot because it doesn't need heat. This makes it an excellent alternative way to gain strength, and settlements are going to appreciate this item a huge amount. It is naturally turned off by Duration cards (and similar) which I think is a sweet interaction. The low crafting cost also makes this one easy to fit into early game builds and it scales a little better into the late game when compared to its core game counterpart. It's also strictly better if you're not employing AI/HL scouting.

Rating: Good

Crimson Pearls

1x blood stool, 1x crimson bone

More Fist & Tooth Support, and bleed support. Goodness the Crimson Armor, Immortal Arm, Crimson Pearls build is so much fun to operate, but even before the indomitable just having these pearls with the crimson armor is immense. You are going to want to consider packing Bandages for a survivor rocking these Pearls  (Unconscious Fighter & the Sunstalker Fighting Art Purpose really sing here) so you can mange the threat level of bleeding out to a reasonable level. These pearls have never failed to impress me with the risk/reward that they offer for using them.

Rating: Staple

Crimson Bow

1x irregular optic nerve, 1x crimson bone

This is our Level 2 “prestige weapon” and it is a great weapon design that has a wonderful push and pull between its needs, power and drawbacks. This weapon is a bow designed for use in the facing of the monster where it gains significant power boosts, ones that keep it appropriately powered for its L2 Node 1 Crafting status. I think it is a fascinating weapon due to its design causing positioning when attacking to matter, but also being cumbersome, meaning it's hard to get into the optimal position without smart survivor placement and a sprinkling of Dash as/when appropriate.

I've employed it a lot during the mid-campaign stretch and it's never felt overwhelmingly powerful or useless and I enjoy how deep you can go on ordering your actions during the survivor turn to shoot at the optimal moment. Bows designed like this are fantastic.

Rating: Staple

Giggling Scythe

2x perfect bone, 2x perfect hide, 13x veined glass

This weapon is straight up a really fun concept in that it is a weapon that exists to tempt and reward you for saving up your veined glass instead of spending them. It's actually a lot of work yo get this weapon built, there is a maximum of three veined glass per Crimson Crocodile and they'll rarely drop all three without some critical wounds helping the process along. The bare minimum number of Crocodile showdowns to get this weapon crafted is four, and that's with the best possible drops occurring and restraint being shown by not crafting anything else that needs veined glass. It's a fun design and the weapon you get from this process is really good.

I am, of course, disappointed that this scythe is printed without its weapon specialisation/mastery card (from the Dragon King), because this isn't exactly customer friendly, but there are a number of cards omitted from the Gambler's Chest which should have been included so this is not exactly an issue unique to the Giggling Scythe itself. Scythes have a great specialisation/mastery, it's a shame that this is kept away from players who may not have a robust collection of expansions.

Rating: Good

Indomitable Resource Gear

Indomitable Gear as a concept is a huge improvement over the previous “fixed level strange resource” system that was used in the first generation of monsters and I am very excited to see Campaigns of Death expand on this and add more variation/texture to the Generation I monsters. It's a really good system which provides exciting moments and motivation to go after higher level monsters multiple times beyond just getting more resources for the resource god.

It's worth pointing out that sometimes the L2 Crimson Crocodile offers up an indomitable resource via its legendary AI card pool, so these weapons can occasionally turn up earlier than normal and that can seriously supercharge your campaign's power level.

Immortal Arm

1x diffuser heart, 2x bone, 1x organ

Our first entry is probably the most exciting member of the entire roster as it is a multi-weapon proficiency type gear card that gives a survivor a way to gain slot and action compression through its activated ability. This weapon is clearly designed with the Crimson Pearls in mind, as the pearls provide a strength bonus and the down facing red affinity that this gear card desires. It is worth noting that the Deflect 1 on this weapon cannot be gained by just an activation, you have to attack with F&T to score that defense, so this weapon needs strength scaling support, but it really rewards you for doing that.

While the Immortal Hand may have trouble scaling into the end game due to a lack of things like Sharp and it is a non-Deadly form of F&T; it still has synergy with Fist & Tooth related abilities (Acid Palm) or fighting arts such as Monster Claw Style so there are ways to scale this one up and keep it being relevant for a fair duration. I really like this one and I think it is right in the sweet spot for being a Node 1 Indomitable Resource Gear.

Rating: Staple

Fear Spear

1x crimson gland, 2x bone, 1x hide

This weapon is basic as heck, but basic does not mean bad, it's a Sharp Spear that can compete with the Lantern Glaive very effectively while also providing some strong and interesting insanity manipulation. Honestly, it's good and there's not much more to dive into with that assessment. If you get the option, you craft it and it'll serve you well. It also has a super fun and cool name.

Rating: Good

Dome Buster

1x secret stone, 4x bone

This weapon has a few features that make it a really powerful option that you can run deep into a campaign's lifespan. Surpass 5 is basically a bad form of Devastating 1, but with the strength this weapon features that doesn't matter a lot of the time. The real big points in favour for this card are its weapon typing of Grand & Club and the lack of the Slow ability being present on this, I've used it with a +1 speed survivor and it's capable of dismantling monsters in a fast and efficient fashion. I think that this weapon is the real deal and the strongest of the Indomitable options by quite a distance; it's also one of the best clubs in the game now. Excellent stuff.

Rating: Staple, almost Broken because of the lack of Slow

Diamond Scab Katar

1x diamond scabs, 2x organ, 1x perfect resource

Given the random nature of Indomitable drops it is rare that you will be able to pair this weapon, however as it is a Katar, and they are weapons that work best in the hands of durable frontline  fighters that are performing the tanking role this is not a huge issue. So the one handed usage of this weapon revolves around a “sword” & board approach. If you do manage to craft a second one of these then the weapon offers additional benefits to support a higher speed playstyle with its Perfect Hit triggered ability (which other survivors can benefit from by surging inside the Katar's attack where there are survival opportunities).

Add onto this the Sharp and Clobber 4 abilities and we have a weapon that can hang in the early portions of the late game with a lot of success. I really like this Katar's design a lot.

Rating: Staple

Blood Drinker

1x vampire fang, 2x organ, 1x bone

This is an axe that demands high bleed levels to operate with sufficient strength and the main issue we have with this is there are not a large amount of ways to self bleed outside of Story of the Young Hero (Storytelling gained ability); so you'll be leaning into the aforementioned Blood Compass Lantern a great deal in order to keep this weapon viable in the fights where you'll use it.

You can't just rely on bleeding on arrival because that is a single trigger and bleed tokens are gradually removed from the survivor as they score wounds, weakening the weapon and leaving the wielding survivor's power dwindling as the showdown progresses. Bleed tokens can be gained on severe injuries, but they often come with impairments and a risk of immediate demise.

So our most typical experience with this axe is when paired in concert with Crimson Armor and the Blood Compass Lantern, you'll head in and activate the Lantern every attack in order to keep your bleeding at a sufficient enough level of allow for a reasonable amount of strength. That's a little delicate to manage at times and really wants Unconscious Fighter on the survivor using it in order to help increase the safety margin that this weapon can be operated at. In addition, scoring multiple wounds per attack is going to cause you to lose ground that the BC Lantern can't keep pace with.

If you're wondering why I'm not as high on this weapon vs the Immortal Arm despite the similarities in their stat lines and the higher ceiling for the Vampire Axe when combined with the Lantern it is only because of the weapon typing, Fist & Tooth has few really powerful options, Axe has lots.

Rating: Situational

Seed Pattern Gear Card

Fingernail Whip

1x groomed nail, 1x hide, 1x veined glass

Requires: Paint, Crimson Crockery and a survivor who has fought the Crimson Crocodile.

This whip is a little unpredictable as to when you will get it, and if gained early it is a very powerful addition to your settlement's arsenal because it uses the Razor Sharp die. The Razor Sharp die is a bonus that adds between +5 and +10 strength to the weapon (average of 7.5), now the negative here is that this whip only gets that bonus when you use it against Super-Dense hit locations, so you are looking for monsters with a high density of those locations. The Crimson Crocodile is one such target, as is the Dung Beetle Knight.

Against monsters with few or no super-dense hit locations however we are looking at a weapon with just 4 strength. This situation isn't improved by Heroic as that is simply a nice bonus that lets you reroll attack rolls of 1 once. So ultimately this weapon isn't one you take out every hunt, but it is the best mid game whip we have and it does scale well vs specific targets.

It is still an excellent weapon when gained at the right time and a reason to hold onto a set of groomed nails if you are hitting the seed patterns hard.

Rating: Situational

Summary

It is  hard to say what my favourite Node 1 Crafting Location is at this point, which is a good thing because it means that all options are similar in power level and the main difference lands in playstyle and flavour choices.

However, if you wanted me to choose one I think it is going to be the Crimson Crockery that takes the crown because the entire suite of options shows a growth and maturity in design; it's a better collection of options because it was designed by experienced people and it is clear that Team Death has playtested this content heavily. Add onto that the sheer character and pleasure it is to fight the Crimson Crocodile at all levels (more on that in a future article) and I think that this new addition to the game takes it by a nose; or more accurately, a snout.